mtl008 Chapter 962 The World Collapses
Chapter 962 The World Collapses
The moment the fragment of the Chaos Godhead between Yun Yao's fingertips collided with the Lord of Order, the entire heavens of the cultivation world suddenly cracked into a spiderweb-like crack. The inverted golden pagoda suspended in the clouds began to twist and deform. The life-saving magic weapon of a Mahayana cultivator nailed to its spire fell like a meteor, exploding a blinding flame on the earth.
"No!" Liu Yan'er's scream echoed from the tower's summit. Her face, a blend of mortal and divine features, was cracking at a visible rate, revealing the mottled lines of divinity beneath. Yun Yao was startled to realize that the Seal of Order between Liu Yan'er's brows had dimmed—the fragment of the Lord of Order's godhead she had just infused had simultaneously drained Liu Yan'er of her true power.
Chu Mochen's Heavenly Dao chains suddenly broke, inch by inch. He stumbled, clinging to the crumbling altar. Black blood oozing from his mouth formed strange totems on the ground. "Yun Yao, be careful!" Before he could even finish his warning, the entire Divine Palace ruins suddenly began to collapse pixel-wise. Those buildings, constructed by the laws of Heaven, were like images with the fast-forward button pressed, disintegrating into data streams at an incredible speed.
Yun Yao felt her foundation tremble violently. The almighty radiance she had gathered during her retreat now shattered like a veil torn by a gust of wind. Even more terrifying, fine cracks began to appear beneath her skin, and the golden blood that oozed out dripped onto the ground, transforming into lines of constantly flashing code. The system's voice boomed through her mind: "A logical collapse in the underlying world has been detected! Immediately initiate emergency evacuation procedures!"
"Evacuate? Evacuate to where?" Yun Yao smiled wryly. She finally saw clearly that this so-called world of cultivation was merely a virtual world constructed by the Lord of Order using data. Her own journey, cultivation, and counterattack were all pre-programmed plots. When the Lord of Order's core was damaged, the entire world, like a mirage with its pillars removed, was irreversibly heading towards extinction.
Chu Mochen suddenly grasped her hand, the warmth of his palm radiating through the chaotic fluctuations of his spiritual energy. His Nascent Soul materialized outside his body, transforming into a silver shield that enveloped the two of them. "Remember the small kitchen in the palace? The first time you made me modern sweet and sour spare ribs, you didn't even cry out in pain when the oil splashed on your hands." His voice, mingled with the roar of the world shattering, was so clear it made Yun Yao's nose ache. "That's when I knew the light in your eyes was brighter than any godhead."
These words were like a hammer, breaking the seal deep within Yun Yao's memory. A thousand years ago, as the Chaos Saintess, she had spoken the same words to Chu Mochen, the Executioner, at the trial grounds of the Heavenly Dao Palace. Back then, he was filled with rage, but only when he heard these words did the murderous intent in his eyes transform into a gentle ripple.
"So... you remember everything." Yun Yao's voice trembled. She finally understood why Chu Mochen was willing to become a pawn of the Heavenly Dao—not to help her regain her godhood, but to protect the mortal soul in the palace's small kitchen, complaining about the fumes while diligently cooking.
At that moment, the ground suddenly cracked open, creating a bottomless chasm. Countless black tentacles emerged from it, wrapping around Liu Yan'er's body. Deprived of her divine power, she was now nothing more than a frail mortal. She could only look at Yun Yao in despair, "Save me... I don't want to disappear..."
Yun Yao instinctively raised her hand, but Chu Mochen held her back firmly. "Don't go! That's the Lord of Order's final counterattack!" Cracks began to appear on his Nascent Soul Light Shield. "The collapse of this world cannot be stopped. We must..."
"No, there's another way." Yun Yao suddenly remembered the bronze token left by the old mammy (Xiao Cui's reincarnation). She bit her fingertip and dripped blood onto the token. A mechanical voice overlapped with the old mammy's voice: "Detected a holder of the Law of Creation, initiating the World Reconstruction Protocol. Warning: Reconstruction will come at a heavy price. Do you confirm the execution?"
"Confirmed!" Yun Yao had barely finished her words when the world suddenly came to a strange halt. She saw Liu Yan'er's tears hanging in mid-air, Chu Mochen's tense jawline, and the upside-down golden pagoda disintegrating in the distance—every scene was frozen in a shattered scroll.
"You're crazy! Reconstructing the world requires consuming all of your divine power!" Chu Mochen's roar echoed in the still space. "Without your divine power, you'll be annihilated!"
Yun Yao smiled. She gently caressed Chu Mochen's face, her fingertips tracing the scar between his brows left by the Heavenly Dao Chain. "You said the light in my eyes shines brighter than my divine nature. But without you, what's the point of owning the entire universe?" Her chaotic divine nature began to burn furiously, transforming into a sky full of fireflies. "Do you remember the promise we made back in our sect? To watch the sunrise across the three thousand worlds together..."
Before she could finish her words, Yun Yao suddenly felt her consciousness being torn into countless fragments. She saw her own godhead transform into the fire of creation, igniting the crumbling world. She saw a flicker of regret in Liu Yan'er's eyes before she was devoured by the black tentacles. She also saw Chu Mochen rushing recklessly into the sea of fire, his Nascent Soul entwined with her godhead, like two vines growing in flames.
"So... this is the true meaning of the laws of creation." Before she completely lost consciousness, Yun Yao finally understood the old lady's words. Creation wasn't about forcibly constructing the world through force, but about piecing together the broken pieces with love and obsession.
When Yun Yao opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in a pure white void. Countless glowing fragments floated around her. Upon closer inspection, she saw all the scenes she had experienced: the carved window lattices of the palace, the towering mountain gates of the cultivation sect, the snow she had admired with Chu Mochen...
"Welcome to the core of world reconstruction." The system's voice softened. "99% of your godhood has been consumed. The remaining 1% can be used to choose the reconstruction method. The first option: Reshape the world of cultivation and preserve everyone's memories, but you will be trapped here forever to keep the world running. The second option..."
"I choose the third option." Yun Yao interrupted the mechanical voice. She reached out and touched the fragments of memory. "I want to go back to where the story began, carry all my memories with me, and live my life all over again."
"Detected that the host has chosen an unconventional option, initiating the paradox correction procedure. Warning: This choice may lead to a time-space paradox, causing more serious consequences..."
"I'm willing to bear all consequences." Yun Yao's eyes were as firm as iron. She remembered Chu Mochen's words, Liu Yan'er's final plea for help, and the countless people struggling to survive in this world. If this was a gamble destined to lose, then she would rather be the one to overturn the chessboard.
The pure white void suddenly vibrated violently, and Yun Yao felt countless memories flood into her mind. She saw Su Yao in the modern world, typing away at her computer keyboard, the words on the screen overlapping and intertwining with the scenes of this world. She saw Liu Yan'er as a mortal, walking on the street with a book in her arms, longing for the future. She also saw Chu Mochen, thousands of years ago, secretly preserving a strand of her hair in the punishment chamber of the Heavenly Dao Temple.
"So... we're all part of this story," Yun Yao whispered softly. Her Chaos Godhead transformed into a final seed, planted into the void. "But who says we can't rewrite our own stories?"
When the world began to turn again, Yun Yao found herself back at the moment she had just traveled through time. In the palace's copper basin, her reflection still reflected Lin Yue (Yun Yao), but within her sea of consciousness, a new, shimmering golden book appeared—the "Creation Notes," incarnated from her divine nature. Inscribed on the title page was the inscription: "The pen of destiny is always held in the hands of those who dare to write."
On the other side of the world, Liu Yan'er woke from a dream, tears still on her cheeks. She stared at the unfamiliar self in the bronze mirror, suddenly picked up a pen, and wrote the beginning of a new story on paper: "My name is Liu Yan'er, and this time, I want to be the protagonist of my own life..."